The Baseball Buffet for 8/22/2025

Issue #374

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 148th day of the season featured a partial slate of Thursday games:

• ATH 8, MIN 3 - Athletics starter Jack Perkins walked four but otherwise did well enough (5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K). Rookie Nick Kurtz went 2-4 with his 26th HR, raising his average to .315 on the year. Tyler Soderstrom went 4-4 with a double, and increased his MLB-leading hitting streak to 19 games.

• TEX 4, KCR 6 - Texas outhit Kansas City 10-9, but went 3-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine guys overall. Meanwhile Patrick Corbin was quite hittable (3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K), including Nick Loftin lofting a HR in the 2nd inning, his 4th on the season. Vinnie Pasquantino hit his 26th HR in the fifth inning, which gave the Royals the lead 5-4, and then tacked one more in the seventh as insurance. Five KC relievers kept the Rangers off the board, and Carlos Estévez recorded his 33rd save, which ties him for MLB lead.

• MIL 4, CHC 1 - The Brewers shook off three consecutive losses to the Cubs and scored two off Shota Imanaga (7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) via a HR from Brice Turang, and then two more in the eighth off Ryan Brasier. Quinn Priester walked five but only allowed one run (4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K), and then Milwaukee’s bullpen did scoreless work the rest of the way, including Trevor Megill notching his 30th save.

• LAD 9, COL 5 - Clayton Kershaw didn’t have his best game (5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) but did well enough to pick up the win to bring his record to 8-2 on the year. The Dodgers scored in each of the first five innings as Rockies' rookie Chase Dollander really struggled (3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Freddie Freeman had his 16th HR while Andy Pages hit his 21st. Rookie Alex Freeland went 3-5 with a triple and a double, and Mookie Betts was 2-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs.

• NYM 3, WAS 9 - Francisco Lindor led off the game with a HR, and then Starling Marte added a solo HR in the third as well. After scoring one more in the fourth, the Mets offense was shut down by five Nationals relievers, including Jose Ferrer who got the last four outs, three by strikeout, to earn his 4th save. Sean Manaea struck out 8 in only 4.2 innings, but also allowed four runs. James Wood padded Washington’s lead with a 3-run HR in the eighth, his 26th homer of the year.

• SFG 4, SDP 8 - Dylan Cease (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) allowed two runs in the third, and then solo HR by Rafael Devers and Willy Adames in the sixth. But his bullpen mates kept the Giants from scoring, and the Padres scored two in fourth and then busted out for six in a big fifth inning. Most of that production came at the expense of Justin Verlander (4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), and included Fernando Tatis Jr. going 2-5 with a double and 2 runs, and Manny Machado going 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI.

• HOU 7, BAL 2 - All nine Orioles hitters had exactly one hit in this one, but they were only 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base overall. Dylan Beavers had his first major league HR, but they couldn’t get much else going, especially against Houston’s bullpen who pitched 3.2 innings and allowed only one hit and no runs. Meanwhile, the Astros jumped on Brandon Young (5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), scoring their seven runs in the first three innings, including HR by Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz. Jesús Sánchez went 5-5 with a double.

• BOS 6, NYY 3 - Ben Rice was 2-3 with a HR, a triple, and a walk. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt also had two hits apiece, while the Red Sox tallied 10 hits with Alex Bregman going 3-5 with a double and Roman Anthony going 2-5 with a HR, 2 runs, and 3 RBI. Five Boston relievers pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, including closer Aroldis Chapman who earned his 23rd save.

• STL 7, TBR 4 - Both teams had 10 hits, but the Rays went 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. The Cardinals scored five runs in the second inning, and then added one in the fourth, and another in the seventh from a Willson Contreras solo HR. JoJo Romero struck out three over the final two innings, earning his 4th save.

Standings

I am providing current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet, with the image being a modified version of the text-based standings at Plain Text Sports. Here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Notes:

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is NYY/BOS/SEA are tied; in the NL it is CHC/SDP/NYM (with the Reds only a half game back).

Today’s Trivia Question

In his first full season, 22-year old Junior Caminero so far has 35 HR and is climbing up the Tampa Bay Rays all-time single-season HR leaderboard. He currently ranks sixth - can you name the all-time Rays leader in HR in a season? Bonus points if you can name any of the other three ahead of Caminero (one player appears on the list twice).

Who’s on the move?

In this section I won’t list 26th-man moves, or every time a team shuttles relievers back and forth to AAA to keep a stock of fresh arms in the bullpen. I’ll focus on the biggest, more impactful demotions, promotions, and injury list changes (for a full list, see all the latest MLB transactions).

➕ Sent a Rehab Assignment

• MIN SP Pablo López

• LAD 2B Hyeseong Kim

🤕 Placed on the IL

• HOU LF Traylor Trammell - 10-day IL (cervical muscle strain)

• BOS RF Wilyer Abreu - 10-day IL (right calf strain)

• BAL C Adley Rutschman - 10-day IL (right oblique strain)

• TBR SS Ha-Seong Kim - 10-day IL (low back inflammation)

• ATL SS Luke Williams - 10-day IL (left oblique muscle strain)

📝 Signed as a Free Agent

• NYY SP Paul Blackburn

• SEA RP Luke Jackson

League Leaders

The overall MLB leader (still Aaron Judge) is now below .330. The NL now has five guys at .300+, but just barely.

• .329 - NYY Aaron Judge

• .316 - TBR Jonathan Aranda

• .306 - HOU Jeremy Peña

• .303 - LAD Will Smith

• .303 - PHI Trea Turner

• .303 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• .302 - MIA Xavier Edwards

• .300 - MIL Sal Frelick

• .299 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• .298 - TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

• .298 - TOR Bo Bichette

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On August 22…

• 1934: Pitcher Wes Ferrell hits two HR. “P Wes Ferrell hits two home runs in a ten-inning, 3-2 win for the Red Sox over the White Sox. It is the second time this season he has a pair of homers, and the third in his career. He will hit two home runs in a game six times before he finishes.”

• 1989: Nolan Ryan records strikeout number 5,000. “On a 96 mph fastball, A's Rickey Henderson swings and misses to become Nolan Ryan's career 5,000th strikeout victim. The "Ryan Express" strikes out 13 and gives up only five hits, but loses the game to Oakland, 2-0.”

• 1991: John Kruk finally gets hit. “In the Phils' ten-inning victory, John Kruk gets hit by a pitch for the first time in 2,682 at bats when the Pirates' Randy Tomlin plunks him. "It didn't feel good," grouses Kruk. Herm Winningham had held the record for active players (1,799 appearances).”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Carl Yastrzemski (1939) is a Hall of Famer who had a 23-year major league career, entirely with the Boston Red Sox, spanning from 1961-1983. He was primarily a LF, essentially taking over the spot in front of the Green Monster at Fenway from the great Ted Williams. He later shifted to 1B and ultimately DH at the end of his long career. He earned seven Gold Glove Awards for his defense in left, but it was his offensive contributions that were even more valuable. An 18-time All-Star, Yaz won three batting titles, and led the AL in runs three times and doubles three times. He was AL MVP in 1967 when he had one of the greatest seasons of all-time, winning the triple crown and leading the AL with 112 runs, 189 hits, 44 HR, 121 RBI, a .326 average, a .418 OBP, and a .622 SLG. For what its worth, his 12.4 bWAR that season is fourth all-time, behind only three seasons by Babe Ruth. Overall, Yastrzemski had 452 HR, 1,844 RBI, 646 doubles, a .285/.379/.462 slash line, and a 130 OPS+.

• Paul Molitor (1956) is a Hall of Famer who had a 21-year major league career, primarily with the Brewers, while also spending three seasons each with the Blue Jays and his hometown Twins. Drafted in the first-round (3rd overall) by the Brewers in 1977. Molitor started out as a 2B, then shifted to 3B, and ultimately played the most games as a DH. A seven-time All-Star, Molitor had only modest power, with a high of 22 HR coming late in his career in 1993. But he was a great baserunner and run scorer, with eight seasons of 30+ SB, and five with 100+ runs, including an AL-leading 136 in 1982 and 133 in 1991. He never won a batting title, but led the AL in hits three times, and led the AL in doubles once and triples once. Molitor did well in the post-season too, batting .368 with 6 HR in 117 AB in five series, including taking home World Series MVP honors in 1993 while with Toronto when he went 12-24 with 2 HR, 2 triples, 2 doubles, and 3 stolen bases. Overall, he had 3,319 hits, 1,782 runs, 605 doubles, 234 HR, 504 SB, a .306/.369/.448 slash line, and a 122 OPS+.

• Ned Hanlon (1857) played during the 19th century, with a 13-year major league career spanning from 1880-1892, mostly with the Detroit club of the National League. We lack stolen base records from the early 1880s, but Hanlon stole between 38-69 bases each year from 1886-1891. He was a fairly average hitter with a .259/.324/.339 slash line and 102 OPS+, but he is in the Hall of Fame largely because of his success as a manager. At first a player-manager from 1889-1892, Hanlon had greater success once his playing days were over. He led the Baltimore Orioles of the National League to three consecutive Pennants from 1894-1896, and then led the Brooklyn Superbas to NL Pennants in both 1899 and 1900. Over 19 years as a major league manager he accumulated a 1,313-1,164 record.

• Wally Schang (1889) had a 19-year major league catching career, spanning from 1913-1931, with time mostly spent with the Athletics, Red Sox, Yankees, and Browns. He didn’t have much power (59 HR in 6,440 plate appearances), but he was a capable batsman otherwise, hitting over .300 six times and even stealing 10+ bases four times. Schang was also considered one of the best defensive catchers of his era, which is one reason he was frequent participant in the postseason, including six pennant winners and three World Series champions (one each with Philadelphia, Boston, and New York). Overall, he had a .284/.393/.401 slash line and a 117 OPS+.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Friday games (15), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• COL vs. PIT interests me, because it represents polar opposites: the Pirates who as I recently noted have the lowest runs per game of any team this season, will face Antonio Senzatela, who has an unattractive 7.00 ERA in 108 innings. What will happen here?

• BOS vs. NYY is game two of this four-game rivalry set in New York, with Brayan Bello (3.23 ERA, 97 K in 128 IP) up against Max Fried (3.26 ERA, 141 K in 149 IP).

• LAD vs. SDP is game one of an important series between these two clubs battling for the NL West crown. Blake Snell (1.80 ERA, 25 K in 25 IP in five starts) takes on Yu Darvish (5.97 ERA, 34 K in 37.2 IP in 8 starts).

Also on the hill today are DET Casey Mize, TEX Nathan Eovaldi, and TOR Shane Bieber who is making his first start of the season and his first for the Blue Jays.

HR Watch

Predicting who might hit a HR on any given day is a challenge. But here are a few to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• CHC Justin Turner, 20-40 with 5 HR and 5 doubles vs. LAA Tyler Anderson (if pitching, TBD). Wow… that is a good history!

• LAD Freddie Freeman, 12-45 with 4 HR and 3 doubles vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• LAD Max Muncy, 10-43 with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• MIN Byron Buxton, only 4-18 (.222) with 3 HR vs. CHW Aaron Civale

• NYY Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 3-5 with 2 HR vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• BOS Trevor Story, 4-10 with 2 HR and a double vs. NYY Max Fried

• PIT Andrew McCutchen, 5-16 with 2 HR vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• KCR Bobby Witt Jr., 6-14 with 2 HR and a triple vs. DET Casey Mize

Hits Watch

If you play MLB’s Beat the Streak mobile game, or otherwise bet on/parlay players to collect hits, I’ll try to provide some good options in this section. In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• KCR Salvador Perez, 13-30 (.433) with a HR and 3 doubles vs. DET Casey Mize

• CHC Kyle Tucker, 9-14 (.643) with a HR, 2 triples, and a double vs. LAA Tyler Anderson (if pitching, TBD)

• PIT Tommy Pham, 7-16 with 2 doubles vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• SDP Luis Arraez, 6-9 with a double vs. LAD Blake Snell… even though Snell is a lefty, and Arraez generally doesn’t hit LHP as well as RHP

• NYY Anthony Volpe, 6-15 with a HR and a double vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• KCR Maikel Garcia, 5-9 with a triple vs. DET Casey Mize

• KCR Kyle Isbel, 5-11 with a double vs. DET Casey Mize

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, small sample but is 4-6 with 3 doubles vs. COL Antonio Senzatela

• STL Nolan Gorman, small sample but is 4-5 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. TBR Adrian Houser

• HOU Carlos Correa, 4-8 with a HR vs. BAL Cade Povich

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 19 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 11 - CIN Noelvi Marte

• 10 - PHI Trea Turner - is 24-46 (.522)

• 10 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 10 - SFG Jung Hoo Lee

• 9 - NYM Francisco Lindor - is 19-38 (.500) with 4 HR

• 8 - AZ Corbin Carroll

• 8 - COL Ryan Ritter

• 7 - AZ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

• 7 - BAL Ryan Mountcastle

Who might struggle today?

Betting against any given player to not get a hit is tough, as guys in the starting lineup get at least one hit in a game more often than not. That said, here are some guys who clearly have struggled against their opposing SP today:

• NYY Aaron Judge, 2-17 with 7 K vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• ATH Lawrence Butler, 2-18 with 5 K though one hit was a HR vs. SEA Bryan Woo (if pitching, TBD)

• LAD Shohei Ohtani, 2-13 with 5 K vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• LAD Miguel Rojas, 2-17 with 2 K vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• STL Willson Contreras, 3-19 with 5 K vs. TBR Adrian Houser

• SDP Jose Iglesias, 2-15 with 4 K vs. LAD Blake Snell

• WAS Luis García Jr., 1-12 though only 1 K vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The all-time Tampa Bay single-season HR leaderboard is:

• 46 - Carlos Peña (2007)

• 39 - Brandon Lowe (2021)

• 39 - Carlos Peña (2009)

• 38 - Logan Morrison (2017)

• 36 - Evan Longoria (2016)

• 35 - Junior Caminero (2025)

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Stats of the Week: Soto, Skubal, Shohei, Schwarber and more!, by Sarah Langs at MLB, 8/21/2025

• Who will drive the free-agent market? Here are our top 10 picks, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 8/21/2025

• Contenders with the easiest – and toughest – remaining schedules, by Will Leitch at MLB, 8/21/2025

• 10 farm systems with the best outfield prospects, by Jonathan Mayo at MLB, 8/21/2025

• Top five starting pitchers in Chicago Cub history, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 8/22/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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